Arjun turns Bihari

The talkative Arjun Kapoor sits down for a chat with NIKITA WADHAWAN about his Half Girlfriend, Bihari Madhav and Mubarakan

He appeared on the Hindi cinema scene with an impressive debut in Ishaqzaade but was written off after Aurangzeb. However, Arjun Kapoor knows how to change failure into success. His films have now established him as critically acclaimed actor, and a bankable star. After 2 States, Kapoor is back with another Chetan Bhagat love story. Excerpts from the interview...

Why not a full girlfriend?

Some relationships in life remain incomplete due to certain circumstances. Hard times make us take practical decisions and we may have to let go few things which are close to us. Half Girlfriend is not about friends with benefits, it’s about those relations that are more than just friends. When you share every minute detail of your life with a special friend, you want that friendship to evolve, but circumstances change and take you away from them. Then what will you do? You have to choose career or love. The movie is not frivolous; it is a bond of emotions which are nameless as they couldn’t culminate. So Chetan (Bhagat) has helped give such relationships a name.

How did you adapt to your character Madhav?

I wanted to get the nuances of my character right as he hails from Bihar. He is from a rich heritage, comes from a family of landlords so his way of walking and talking is different. Moreover, he is a national level basketball player, so his styling and look is like any another guy. You cannot make out today if anyone is from which state just by looking at them. This is not a character who comes in a dhoti-kurta and talks in a typical Bihari accent. Enacting that is easy, you have seen it 20 times, but what is tougher is to create a character that has a sense of belonging to Bihar.

How difficult was it for you to adapt to behaving like a Bihari boy?

I had to catch a certain body language for Ishaqzaade as well, so I tried to understand the nuances of the place from where my characters are from. Putting an accent is easy; there are few words that are typical of a place. That is all on the surface but for a role you have to go in the depth of his life and upbringing - vo lehaja pakdna assan nahi

hai. Madhav talks in Bihari Hindi when he is with his friends as he is comfortable with them. But he speaks clear Hindi when he is with a girl as she needs to understand what he is saying. When you are angry or emotional that is when your true self is revealed. It was not just that you catch an accent for the whole film but about using it at right place at the right time. I want the people of Bihar who see the film to be proud of it.

What did you think of Madhav as a character?

He is very selfless which is very rare in today’s world. He is a national basketball player, he works hard for it so that he can get into a good school and improve his village. This is a very unique quality. There is a scene in the film that just took me in. When Madhav is done with the interview at this college, the principal tells him that even though he is intelligent they can’t take someone who doesn’t speak good English.

So he just asks if the college wants to admit someone who’s intelligent or someone who speaks the language of another country. With one thought he summed up the Indian education system. This is how most of us perceive people who can’t speak good English. How is language a bench mark to decide whether a person is intelligent? We are conditioned to gauge people through the prism of language. He is one of the rarest and purest characters I have ever played.

You seemed to have picked Chetan as your favourite...

Chetan is an intelligent writer. He has understood his audience and he caters to them. A lot of people who don’t read have started reading which is good. Fundamentally in India, our parents have always been worried about our education. Till the time we don’t pass 10th the only discussion is about a good college, which stream and a good job, so till then you are bound to only think about that. Then in college, relationships happen and you make some lifelong friendships as you get the opportunity to be yourself. So Chetan has that as his foundation which is very relatable irrespective of whether you like his writing style or not.

Have you ever had a half girlfriend relationship?

Yes, there was girl who was a good friend. We used to constantly message, talk after finishing work as at that time I was assisting on the sets of Kal Ho Na Ho. So I wanted her to be comfortable with me, as I did not have a girlfriend before. Eventually, I decided to ask her out on her birthday. Main ban-than ke gaya and I saw that she was coming with a guy who I thought was her brother. But he’s her boyfriend. I think that I took a lot of time so she felt that I did not want to have a relationship. And that day I realised the importance of sad songs in India (laughs).

Tell us more about your other projects...

After this I have Mubarakan. I have finished the shoot so after Half Girlfriend would start the promotions of Mubarakan.

Was it difficult to play a double role?

I have played it before in Aurangzeb so I had that experience but this film is very different. In Aurangzeb I meet myself only once in the film so I had to create two different characters and then perform them. But Mubarakan is about two brothers. One is a sardar and the other has cut his hair and both are together all the time. It is a unique way of portraying a double role. It is a two-hero film done by the same actor. Charan and Karan are talking to each other, shaking each other’s hand and slapping each other. So it is continuous banter with myself. It was a bit difficult this time around but fun.